Tamworth is on the world map as the home to the yearly Tamworth Country Music Festival. It's an appropriate location for this event. Everything about Tamworth and the surrounding region is classically country and has been ever since the initial settlers arrived.
When explorer John Oxley was traveling through the Peel River Valley just north of Tamworth in 1818, he noted that "No place in this world can offer more advantages to the industrious settler than this extensive vale." Oxley's sentiments have been echoed repeatedly in the almost 200 years since he uttered those words. While he might have envisioned a glorious future for the area, he could not possibly have known what the future had in store for Tamworth.
In 1830, the Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) was awarded a huge grant to develop the area and by 1834, it was ready for the arrival of the 1st 6000 sheep that would be the backbone of the region's first enterprises. The city of Tamworth was formally created in 1850. At that time, its population was recorded at a bit over 250. Then gold was found at neighboring Nundle and Tamworth began increase by leaps and bounds. By the late 19th century, Tamworth had its own railway line linking it to Newcastle and earned the nickname "The City of Lights," because it was the first town in the Southern Hemisphere to have its own municipally operated electric street lighting.
In the 1960s, Tamworth radio station 2TM began broadcasting a daily country music program called "Hoedown." Nobody anticipated how enormously popular that program would become, but by 1973, Tamworth was associated with country music throughout Australia and became the home of the yearly Country Music Awards. This rapidly evolved into what is now called the Australasian Country Music Festival, a 10 day annual country music extravaganza that is attended by tens of thousands of country music fans from throughout Australia as well as the world.
While there is little question that you will want to visit the iconic Golden Guitar along with the Wax Museum with its eerily lifelike wax figures of Australian and international country music stars, remember that John Oxley and the first settlers were entranced by the Tamworth region long before it became the country music capital of Australia. Take a while to explore the whole New England region, including the towns of Barraba, Bendemeer, Kootingal, Manilla and Nundle. These are the types of towns that inspired the country music Tamworth has become so famous for.
Even though Tamworth is far from the major metropolitan centers of New South Wales, it is easily easy to get to by road, rail or air. Once you're there, you will not have any trouble at all finding appropriate Tamworth accommodation to make your stay thoroughly enjoyable. Tamworth is used to playing host to visitors from around the world and you will find everything there to make your vacation a memorable one.
When explorer John Oxley was traveling through the Peel River Valley just north of Tamworth in 1818, he noted that "No place in this world can offer more advantages to the industrious settler than this extensive vale." Oxley's sentiments have been echoed repeatedly in the almost 200 years since he uttered those words. While he might have envisioned a glorious future for the area, he could not possibly have known what the future had in store for Tamworth.
In 1830, the Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) was awarded a huge grant to develop the area and by 1834, it was ready for the arrival of the 1st 6000 sheep that would be the backbone of the region's first enterprises. The city of Tamworth was formally created in 1850. At that time, its population was recorded at a bit over 250. Then gold was found at neighboring Nundle and Tamworth began increase by leaps and bounds. By the late 19th century, Tamworth had its own railway line linking it to Newcastle and earned the nickname "The City of Lights," because it was the first town in the Southern Hemisphere to have its own municipally operated electric street lighting.
In the 1960s, Tamworth radio station 2TM began broadcasting a daily country music program called "Hoedown." Nobody anticipated how enormously popular that program would become, but by 1973, Tamworth was associated with country music throughout Australia and became the home of the yearly Country Music Awards. This rapidly evolved into what is now called the Australasian Country Music Festival, a 10 day annual country music extravaganza that is attended by tens of thousands of country music fans from throughout Australia as well as the world.
While there is little question that you will want to visit the iconic Golden Guitar along with the Wax Museum with its eerily lifelike wax figures of Australian and international country music stars, remember that John Oxley and the first settlers were entranced by the Tamworth region long before it became the country music capital of Australia. Take a while to explore the whole New England region, including the towns of Barraba, Bendemeer, Kootingal, Manilla and Nundle. These are the types of towns that inspired the country music Tamworth has become so famous for.
Even though Tamworth is far from the major metropolitan centers of New South Wales, it is easily easy to get to by road, rail or air. Once you're there, you will not have any trouble at all finding appropriate Tamworth accommodation to make your stay thoroughly enjoyable. Tamworth is used to playing host to visitors from around the world and you will find everything there to make your vacation a memorable one.
Tamworth Is Synonymous With Australian Country Music